Commentary

Category Archives for Commentary.

Uber Was Once The Underdog, Now They Use Regulators To Quash Competition

by Gary Leff on July 1, 2021

person holding phone near steering wheel

Jul 01 2021

New Yorkers thought that when the city capped the number of licenses for for-hire vehicles ‘to prevent traffic congestion’ they were regulating Uber. The truth is they were doing Uber’s bidding by handing the ridesharing giant a tool to keep out competitors.

In New York there are a limited number of licenses, and those are busy working for Uber. New competitors have a hard time entering the market. Startup Revel thought they found a loophole that would allow them to compete against Uber in New York. But they were shut down by regulators in a bizarre process.

Mileage Maniac: New Book Details The Craziest Loyalty Program Exploits Of Last 30 Years

by Gary Leff on June 27, 2021

Jun 27 2021

My award booking partner Steve Belkin has a new book out, Mileage Maniac, which any frequent flyer or mileage junkie will get real enjoyment from.

President Biden Makes Captain Sully An Ambassador

by Gary Leff on June 15, 2021

Jun 15 2021

President Biden announced the nomination of Captain Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger to the ambassador-level position of U.S. representative to ICAO, International Civil Aviation Organization. Sullenberger is best known, of course, as the pilot of US Airways flight 1549 which went down in a ditching in the Hudson River after a double bird strike.

A Republican for most of his life, he switched his voting registration to Democrat in 2019. He endorsed Joe Biden for President in February 2020. This past fall he created a commercial with the Lincoln Project tying his experience with US Airways 1549 to his opposition to Donald Trump’s re-election.

Passenger Denied Boarding In Covid-19 Testing Catch-22, Finds Nonsensical Workaround

by Gary Leff on May 29, 2021

May 29 2021

To fly from the U.K. to Ireland you need a negative PCR Covid-19 test. One woman, a U.K. health care worker, was denied boarding for her flight from Birmingham to Dublin despite having a negative PCR test.

The government doesn’t accept her test, because it was provided by the government – even though it isn’t one of the tests listed as unacceptable. Fortunately there was a workaround to add an enroute stop and avoid the non-sensical requirement.

Mexico’s President Lashes Out At U.S. Airline Protectionism, Defends His Nation’s Air Safety

by Gary Leff on May 24, 2021

May 24 2021

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is hitting back at the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s placing his country’s air safety rating under review, with expectations of a downgrade, and the implications for limiting new flights to the U.S. by Mexican airlines and placing constraints on the ability of U.S. airlines to codeshare with Mexican carriers.

A Surprising Snag Travel May Run Into With Vaccine Passports This Winter

by Gary Leff on May 22, 2021

May 22 2021

Covid-19 vaccines are phenomenal. And they’re about to open up a lot of travel possibilities: so-called ‘vaccine passports’, only we don’t know how long those passports will be valid as a result of virus variants and uncertainty over how long they provide protection.

Much of the world is ordering not just first injections but also booster doses, in case these passports need to be extended. The U.S. hasn’t done this yet.

Planning Vacations Is More Fun Than Actually Traveling

by Gary Leff on May 15, 2021

May 15 2021

Happiness from vacation wears off quickly once you get back. The middle part of a trip winds up mostly as a blur, it’s the end that counts. You should probably work while you’re on vacation if you want to break up the trip and create more starts and ends and less middle, and avoid doing too many things that you’ve done before while you’re gone.

It’s Time To Lift Restrictions For Entering The U.S.

by Gary Leff on May 12, 2021

May 12 2021

U.S. travel policies have not kept up with world events, or even the science of Covid-19.

The U.S. should drop its ban on travel from areas with less Covid-19 than the United States. And it should drop its requirement for a Covid-19 test for those that have been vaccinated.

Are Mask Mandates Extending The Pandemic?

by Gary Leff on May 10, 2021

May 10 2021

I’ve been very ‘pro-mask’ throughout the pandemic, arguing that flight attendants should be allowed to wear them back when airlines forbid it and the CDC wasn’t yet recommending it. I’ve even argued that conservatives should favor mask-wearing as a ‘conservative alternative to lockdowns’. I applauded JetBlue as the first U.S. airline to require masks for passengers. It helped build confidence to travel, knowing that everybody else on board would be wearing a mask.

However the federal transportation mask mandate is no longer useful, and may be counterproductive – even extending the pandemic in the United States.

Are Covid Testing Requirements Spreading The Virus?

by Gary Leff on May 7, 2021

May 07 2021

The Director of the CDC has stated “vaccinated people do not carry the virus, don`t get sick.” Yet vaccinated Americans have to take a Covid-19 test before flying back to the United States and vaccinated travelers from the U.K., which has far less Covid-19 per capita than the U.S., remain banned from even entering the country.

But what if Covid-19 testing requirements are actually spreading the virus?